The Scream (Art) Fear

{ May 24, 2012 }    

The Scream

- Edvard Munch (1893)

     ...I have chosen this particular piece of art because of the sense of fear within the painting. The artist framed a person, screaming with hands placed upon his cheeks. The background of the picture is swirled and mysterious; making the whole "Scream" scheme of the painting seem like it is through out the entire painting and not just the man. The contortion of the man, seems as though he wants to get away from whatever it is he is looking at.

     In reality, fear makes our face scrunch up in horror or disgust. In this painting, there is no detail in his face; just a gaping mouth and wide eyes. There is no eyebrows shifting upward, or pupil constriction within the facial features of the person in the painting. Fear is what creates these body movements, but, the gaping mouth seems to me as if the man in this painting is screaming; hence the name of the painting.

     I think this painting represents fear, because of the gaping mouth that is screaming. Screaming is something people usually do when they are frightened, or excited. The man in this painting is not excited, by the looks of it, so therefore, he must be frightened or shocked. This painting taught me that what shows on a person's face, is also a sub category of fear. People's reactions to what they fear, makes them act out differently. Sweaty palms, wide eyes, gaping mouth.. These are all parts of a horrific expression caused by fear. This feeling relates to how the Barber felt in "Just Lather, That's All," only, his heartbeat increased when Captain Torrez walked into his shop, his body reacted to the fear that Torrez was a murderer and that he could easily kill the Barber.

     This painting relates back to the song I have chosen, but have already added on my tapestry. I picked a song that showed a bit of fear in the beginning, but then soon got courageous and strong by the end of the song. This song, at the beginning has a very quiet and suspenseful start to the song, this part of the song, I think, would suit this painting very well. This part that I have indicated is from 0:00 - 1:20 within the youtube video below...